I am interested in hand knit traditional ganseys. They were beautiful and extraordinarily functional garments. Here is my research journal and thoughts on related historical issues

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Faster

One reason that I knit faster today than I did 6 years ago is better tools.

My current production gansey knitting sheath.

Crude, and ugly, but productive. A block of maple, with a couple of holes drilled with countersinks to receive and fit needles that is then bolted to a very heavy work belt. I use it with 12" and 18" needles in 2 mm and 2,3 mm sizes. It is in its 4th or 5th iteration. I have a hundred good knitting sheaths in the house, and still it is worth my time to tweak my ideas about knitting sheaths to make the process faster.

1 comment:

Hi Aaron,Thank you for your blogs, I have read them for some time. I know it is not easy to put your thoughts out there. My understanding is that a critique is supposed to be a constructive comment, a view that not all your readers share.From what I have read, your views on knitting and spinning techniques are still an ongoing journey and it may be that you end up back at a place you have already visited and dismissed earlier. But the point is it is your personal journey and I would like to thank you for sharing it.It has given me much food for thought. I have returned to knitting as a way to use up yarn produced from spinning.I share your views that factory yarn and garments are a shadow of what was previously produced, I do not blame industry they are only giving us what we have asked for.A group of climbers tried to mimic the clothing that Shackleton wore but were unable to do so as they could not find a factory that could produce the quality of yarn nor weave it to the density that was common at the time.The were however surprised at the warmth and breathability of the clothing they eventually ended up with.In striving to explore manmade fibre and fashion we risk losing the knowledge of those that have gone before us.I believe, though I have no proof, that factory processing damages the wool and is designed to operate on short fibres, but we as hand spinners can be gentle and retain all the beautiful characteristics of the fiber we are using and prepare it according to the wool, whatever type it is.I am not brave enough to open my thoughts up to others but I am glade that you are.

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